Is Blanco the best DP MLS has seen so far? (Getty Images)

I’ve had this thought for a little while, on the surface the Designated Player rule is good as it brings quality players into Major League Soccer that do help in more areas than just on the field itself. We know the cons against it like teams spending so much money on one player but I started looking at all the past and present DPs and started wondering if this rule really is worth it.

Now first of all I’m not going to advocate for or against this rule today. I just merely want to point out who’s done well with it and who’s not. We’ve seen this rule in place for a couple seasons now and so far only a few clubs have ventured out with this rule. Now it seems like most clubs are going away from the rule, currently only five clubs have a DP (Toronto, New York, LA, Seattle and Houston).

Also, so far five clubs (or six if you count Philly too) have yet to use their DP slot. RSL won MLS Cup 2009 without one so maybe they aren’t worth the money.

So let’s take a deeper look into each DP. What worked about it and what didn’t work on and off the field. We’ll go from worst to best in this instance. I’d also like to note that two fo the DPs on this list have only played a little under a half season with their clubs so grading and discussing them at length seemed unfair at this time. If you are wondering about who I am talking about here those two are Houston’s Luis Angel Landin and Toronto’s Julian De Guzman. (For the record I like De Guzman but don’t care of Landin…but saying that I am very curious about their upcoming seasons.) Continue Reading…

Nothing like moving from the field to the booth. Now this looks like a guest-gig for Claudio Reyna but hopefully it works out for him and we won’t have to listen to people like Allen Hopkins or people like that. Also, we get Adrian Healey and Shep Messing tomorrow night on ESPN2…yippie.

Claudio Reyna, former U.S. National Team captain and one of the most accomplished soccer professionals in the United States, will make his ESPN studio debut as a guest analyst on ESPN Soccernet Pregame Show on ESPN2 Thursday, August 21, at 10 p.m. ET. The pregame show, hosted by Rob Stone, will lead into that night’s ESPN2 MLS Primetime Thursday telecast featuring Los Angeles Galaxy hosting the Chicago Fire. Commentary for the match will be provided by Adrian Healey, Shep Messing and sideline reporter Allen Hopkins.

What do you all think of Captain American moving to the booth? Think it could be a good fit or another awkward bust like Brandi Chastain?

Just as promised, once I got more information, I would pass it along to you. This morning was more like a flood of information from sources, reports, and other blogs. What we do know is Captain America has retired.

But what it appears to be now is he was some what forced into retirement by his own club, the New York Red Bulls. According to Ives Galarcep, the Red Bulls came to Reyna with the idea first in what sounds like a buy-out of his contract.

According to team sources, the Red Bulls first approached Claudio Reyna about the possibility of retiring last month. It remains unclear when Reyna finally made the decision to retire, but the announcement had been delayed while Major League Soccer sorted out how exactly to handle the retirement (yes, you can rest assured that some new DP rules were recently added to the MLS rule book the public has never seen.)

Continue Reading…

Another day, another retirement.

After a 14-year career that saw him play in Germany, England and Scotland before returning to the United States, Claudio Reyna has decided it is time to stop playing. The former U.S. national team captain and New York Red Bulls midfielder is retiring immediately, according to Ives Galarcep and his sources withing the league. The Red Bulls are expect to announce the retirement this week.

Leg and back injuries limited Reyna to just six games this season, and 27 games total during his two seasons with the Red Bulls.

Reyna’s retirement immediately frees up a designated player slot the team is expected to use to sign a forward to replace departed U.S. national team forward Jozy Altidore, who was sold to Villarreal last month.

Some will place Reyna in the bust-department of the MLS Designated Players along with Denilson, and some will say he just came back home to retire anyways. Either way you look at it we are seeing the end of a quality soccer player here in the States and what could end up being a good deal for New York.

I say its good for New York because now they have a load of space to get a high profile striker this summer in hopes to push their playoff hopes from dreadful to legit.

More to come on this as I get details on it…

You know most of the time I don’t worry about a player seeing his time run out with a club unless I have a strong connection with him, know him, or have followed his career. Claudio Reyna actually doesn’t fit into any of those categories.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a fan of Captain America during his time with the National team and what not but anymore with the Red Bulls I find myself not being a fan.

I don’t know if it is the waste of money (and cap space to some) that the Red Bulls have done with Reyna. The fact that he may be on the same level in terms of being a DP-bust like Denilson. Or maybe it is because of little stunts like this past week where he doesn’t follow his club to a friendly and instead plays in a charity pick up game.

Now, I loved the charity game as much as the next guy but after reading some comments from some Red Bull fans it appears he has pulled the final straw with most of them. Lack of communication with the press and maybe his own club, not trying to work back from an injury in a proper manner seem to grow large with Red Bull fans.

I know if I were a Red Bull fan I would be tired of Reyna eating up a chunk of salary that could be used a little wiser.

I don’t see the guy going anywhere this summer in terms of getting cut or traded. But I am starting to wonder if this really is his final season of soccer. If that is the case it may be a sad one because its almost like he went into retirement well before he got to MLS. I saw him a couple months ago here in Dallas and saw little glimpses of the player I use to enjoy watching. But for the most part I saw an aged, tired and somewhat injured picture of what I had already become accustomed to since he joined the league last season.

So my question of the day to you all, or questions really. Are Reyna’s days in New York numbered? Is he really going down as one of the worst DPs that the league has seen so far? And what could happen to help him save face with his club, fans, and the league right now?

Let’s hear it.

Oh what it would have been like to be in Chinatown yesterday in New York City. We all know of the event by now and I won’t go into the details of it too much since I wasn’t there to see it firsthand. I will share a couple items I got from reading about it and a few clips that I saw online about it.

Claudio Reyna and Steve Nash had a little event. Okay little doesn’t even start to describe it.

First off, the event was packed as packed can get. Hell even Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati were sitting on the turf to watch the game because every other inch of space inside the park was taken. Outside of the park, fans climbed trees and fences, others stood on a roof of an adjacent apartment building to catch a glimpse.

The scene was crazy, the game was crazy but in all it looked like one hell of a time. The collection of soccer and basketball stars was impressive.

Nash, the two-time NBA MVP, and Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa, were former Liverpool greats Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Rob Jones.

Playing with Reyna, Jozy Altidore and Gregg Berhalter were Jason Kidd and Baron Davis and Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou.

Oh yeah, some guy named Thierry Henry was there as well.

Uh yeah, that’s just a nasty combination of stars folks. Continue Reading…